-The Hindu The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) on Friday gave the green signal for field trials of genetically modified (GM) rice, mustard, cotton, chickpea and brinjal at its meeting in Delhi. Hem Kumar Pande, chairperson of the GEAC told The Hindu that meetings were not held for a year since March 2013 and there was a backlog of 70 applications pending since 2011-12 of which 60 have been cleared so far. Friday's...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: "Is there andhergardi (lawlessness) in this country," an angry Supreme Court asked after being told by the Naveen Patnaik government that unlicensed labour contractors chopped off the palms of two migrant labourers' after the tribal men they had herded for contract labour in brick kilns managed to flee. Counsel Jayshree Satpute and R S Jena narrated the unending exploitation of tribal men in six districts of...

-The Hindu   Even decades after independence, the introduction of a ‘secret ballot' for labourers to recognise trade unions remains elusive The National Democratic Alliance government, on June 5 and June 17, notified the proposed amendments to the Factories Act, 1948 and the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Given that the process of amendments began in 2008 and went through a number of expert committees, one would have expected the amendments to be carefully...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has punched holes in the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government's claim of having provided basic services in 895 unauthorized colonies in the capital, touted as a major achievement of Dikshit's tenure, for which it spent more than Rs 3,000 crore between 2007 and 2013. Providing these basic services - sewer lines, water connections, roads and drainage - was mandatory before legalizing...

-The Business Standard The confusion over Aadhaar's future has deepened and, to be resolved, will require ministerial intervention through the next week The turf battle over Aadhaar continues under the National Democratic Alliance government, too. Three ministries have prepared separate Cabinet notes, chartering contradictory courses for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Consequently, the confusion over Aadhaar's future has deepened and, to be resolved, will require ministerial intervention through the next week. The...